2002 Conference

The Soil Quality and Sustainable Land Management Conference is being held between April 3-5, 2002, at Massey University, in Palmerston North. This conference is being organised by programme leaders of two public good research programmes (Peter Stephens (Landcare Research) and Prue Williams (Crop and Food)) in association with the New Zealand Association of Resource Management (Bill Bayfield).

The conference will consist of two days of presentations with ample time for discussions. Oral presentations and posters will focus on soil quality research and its practical applications. Conference sessions will focus on soil quality indicators, soil assessment tools, uptake of research for policy and management, sustainable land management techniques, environmental monitoring systems, and use of the Internet as a communication medium and information source. There is also a field trip (covering crop land and hill country issues). A conference proceedings of extended abstracts will be published.

A more detailed conference programme and registration form is posted on the Landcare Research web site at http:// www.landcare.cri.nz/conferences/ 

4.30-5.30pm Registration (AH1 office in foyer)

8.00-10.00 Registration continued (AH1 office in foyer)

9.00-9.05 Opening remarks, welcome. Peter Stephens

9.05-9.30 Opening Address. (Maryanne Macleod, MfE)

9.30-9.50 Assessing the capacity of soils to adsorb heavy metals at a user-defined concentration. Goudong Yuan

9.50-10.10 Nitrogen overloading in soils. Louis Schipper and Harry Percival

10.10 - 10.20 Discussion

11.00-11.20 Soil Quality Target Ranges and Use for Regional Scale Reporting.  Graham Sparling, Peter Singleton and Reece Hill

11.20-11.40 Optimum ranges and critical limits for soil quality indicators. Glyn Francis, Mike Beare

11.40-12.00 Soil quality on mixed cropping farms of the Canterbury Plains. Mike Beare, Tony van der Weerden, C Tregurtha, Prue Williams

12.00-12.10 Discussion

12.10-12.40 Two minute comment on posters, by authors

Quantifying visual characteristics of the soil profile for crop production management - C Tregurtha, T van der Weerden, M Beare

Predicting nitrogen mineralization rates  - D Curtin, G Francis, and P Jamieson.

Indicators of soil biodiversity for evaluating effects of land use change - T. Harrison, M Beare, L. Schipper, W Williamson, and P. Fraser

Minimum Tillage practices - Lesley Wilson

Soil variability by electro-magnetic induction survey - Carolyn Hedley, Peter Stephens, and Ian Yule

Precision farming to optimise soil management - Ian Yule

Soil quality under long-term cropping by no-tillage compared with conventional cultivation, and with permanent pasture in the Manawatu - Craig Ross, John Dando, Surinder Saggar, Gregor Yeates, and Graham Shepherd

SINDI v3: Improvements to a web-based soil quality assessment tool- Linda Lilburne, Graham Sparling, Allan Hewitt, Stephen Campbell, and Peter Stephens

Beneficial effects of biosolids compost on dairy pasture - Craig Ross, Gregor Yeates, John Dando, Tom W Speir

2.00-2.20 What does monitoring changes in soil fertility over time tell you about resource condition?   Ants Roberts, David Wheeler & Graham Sparling

2.20-2.40 The role of alleyway management to improve soil quality of berryfruit gardens, Tony van der Weerden

2.40-3.00 Orchard Land Management - a new dimension in IFP, Andrea Pearson

3.00-3.15 Discussion

4.15-4.35 Don’t urbanise me. Robyn Simcock, John Dando, & Julie Zanders

4.35-4.55 Franklin Sustainability Project. Tony Thompson

4.55-5.05 Discussion

5.05 - 5.35 NZARM AGM, AH1 lecture theatre

5.35-7.00 NZARM-funded drinks and nibbles, Russell Room, Wharerata

9.00-9.20 The land use index: a potential pressure indicator. Glyn Francis, Mike Beare

9.20-9.40 Vulnerable soils: National maps and models of resistance to pressures. Roger Parfitt, Linda Lilburn, Graham Shepherd, and Robbie Andrew

9.40-10.00 When to cultivate: real-time advice over the web. Robert Gibb and Graham Shepherd

10.00-10.10 Discussion

10.50-11.10 Factors associated with trends in bare ground and Hieracium species in South Canterbury hill and high country. Jeromy Cuff

11.10-11.30 Long-term erosion on arable land. Les Basher and Craig Ross

11.30-11.50 Soil loss, vegetation recovery, and sediment yield following plantation harvesting at Whangapoua, Coromandel Peninsula. Michael Marden, Chris Phillips, & Donna Rowan

11.50- 12.00 Discussion

1.30-1.50 Soil Quality Management System: development, implementation and future uses. Mike Beare, Tony van der Weerden, C Tregurtha, Prue Williams

1.50-2.10 Visual Soil Assessment. Can we see what we measure?  Graham Shepherd

2.10-2.20 Discussion

2.20- 2.40 The match/mismatch between end-users and providers of soil quality
research information in New Zealand. Terry Kelly, Janet Reid, & Ian
Valentine

2.40-3.00 The role of the internet for communicating and accessing soil
quality research information in New Zealand.  Ian Valentine, Peter Stephens, Janet Reid & Terry Kelly

3.00-3.20 Soil quality on the flats. Dan Bloomer

3.20-3.30 Discussion

4.00-4.20 Regional Council Land Monitoring Forum - progress and current initiatives. Wayne Smith

4.20-4.50 Application of the threat identification model to support land-use planning, the consent process and environmental monitoring. Allan Hewitt, Robert Gibb, Ian Brown

4.50-5.00 Discussion

5.00-6.00 Visit to addidas Rugby Institute, Massey University

7.30 + Conference Dinner, Colossuem, Main Street (The Square)

9:00 –9:30 am Travel by bus to Ballantrae Research Station

10:00 –11:30 am Ballantrae AgResearch Hill Country Research Station

Interaction between agriculture and the environment. The programme will include a visit to the long-term fertiliser and grazing farmlets (established in 1972) to discuss the long-term impact of intensive pastoral agriculture on the chemical, physical and biological properties of hill soils. If time permits and there is sufficient interest, brief updates on the other soils related research in progress will be given. This work covers the stock treading on soils (and includes the new tools), the tree pasture study, and the soil fertility challenges facing low-chemical and organic producers. The farmlets cover 40 ha so people will be required to walk some distance (1 to 2 km).

11:30 am –1:00 noon. Travel from Ballantrae to the Ashhurst Domain pavilion for a BBQ lunch and view the wind farm from the observation centre.

1:00 – 2:15 pm. Soil quality, environmental and land management issues under no-till and conventional tillage. (NZ No-Tillage Association focus farm in the Manawatu)

2:15 – 3:15 pm. Soil quality, environmental and land management issues under long-term conventional tillage, and recovery rates under pasture.

3:15 – 3:30 pm. Afternoon tea and conclusion of conference

3:30 Return to Massey University and Airport.